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On the comeback trail - Emily Hughes
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Emily Hughes
AP File Photo
History
Her big sister may be the 2002 Olympic Champion, but Emily Hughes is no slacker herself. She earned medals at the U.S. Nationals two seasons in a row and backed them up with top 10 finishes at Worlds. Casual viewers perhaps know her best as Michelle Kwan’s replacement on the 2006 Olympic team after Kwan withdrew due to injury. Hughes made a splash in Torino, finishing 7th overall.
After a hip injury and an ankle injury, she took time off from competition and started college at Harvard. Early last month, Hughes announced that she would take a year off from Harvard to focus on training for the Olympic season.
Analysis
Similar looks aside, Emily’s skating style is quite different from that of Sarah, which may have to do with the fact that they trained under different coaches. Sarah belonged to the soft and lyrical side of the rink, whereas Emily was intense and powerful. The international judges took notice quickly when she competed at the Olympics in Torino, as the intensity in her programs contrasted her from the slew of softer programs that were competed.
Hughes’ jumps are all power – when she lands them well, they are spectacular; but when she falls on them, they tend to be splattering and messy. So unlike her sister, who had the ability to securely land jumps even when they are somewhat (or even quite) underrotated, she often relies on a clean backwards edge to secure her landings. That is not to say that she has not gotten downgrades for underrotation – but it is often the case that her wild landings are the result of her muscling her free leg around after an underrotated jump.
Components-wise, it is tough to say how she would be received by the judges. After having a tremendous start with her 7th place in Torino, her PCS has stagnated – only moving from the lower to mid 6s to the mid to upper 6s in international competition. In her last competition, last season’s Trophee Eric Bompard, her lack of competitive readiness showed, and her performances only earned her PCSs in the 5s. But that competition was not a World Championships, and her performances there should not adversely affect her PCS if she skates well again. That said, the unwillingness of the international judges to give her higher marks in the PCS even when she was at her best does not bode well for her this season.
To top it off, Hughes is already recovering from a preseason ankle injury. In order to compete with the top ladies in the U.S., she will need to at least get all of her triple jumps back. She has never competed a triple-triple combination, which will put her at a disadvantage to the younger ladies who were training triple-triples in their junior days.
First Test
Because of her absence from competition since the fall of 2008 at Trophee Eric Bompard, Hughes was placed on the U.S. Figure Skating Reserve Team. She was thus not selected for any Grand Prix events. Her first competition was supposed to have been one of the early non-qualifying competitions – but she did not compete in any of them. It is likely that her first test will be at the North Atlantic Regionals, which will be her qualifying competition into Sectionals, from which she will need to qualify to Nationals.
Predictions
Even with her top 10 finishes at Worlds and the Olympics, Hughes never really showed consistency in competition. Since she last competed at Nationals in 2007, the ladies field has changed tremendously. It will take two clean and confident performances from Hughes for her to have a chance at the Olympic team. Hughes has a love and joy for skating that is easy to see and feel. But as much as I am looking forward to her performance quality and intensity, it is tough to imagine that she would be able to deliver so soon after her time off.
2010 U.S. Nationals – 7th
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Previous: Stephane Lambiel
Comeback Trail Series
Sasha Cohen
Evgeny Plushenko
Xue Shen & Hongbo Zhao
Stephane Lambiel
Emily Hughes
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